Improvement in processes of treating and preserving hides



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

ADOLPHE BOOK, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,746, dated September 5, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADOLPHE ROCK, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Process of Treating Hides; and

. I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention. is intended as an improvement upon the process andapparatus for curing hides for which Letters Patent were granted to me February 28, 1871; and it consists in a compound or curing liquid composed of pyroligneous acid and some other ingredients as will be hereinafter more fully set forth, which compound will keep off flies and kill the bugs known as hidebugs, worms, 85c. It also consists in a different mode of treating the hides, whereby any extra mechanical apparatus is dispensed with.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe the compound and mode of treatment.

To one gallon of pyroligneous acid I add about one ounce of aloes and two ounces of alum, both finely powdered, mixed, and dissolved in the acid. This liquid being kept in any ordinary tank or vat, the hides are soaked in it for from four to ten hours, then taken out and drained, when they are ready for shipment.

It has been found from experiments that this liquid keeps oif flies and kills all bugs, worms, &c., in the hides, and, in addition thereto, it has been demonstrated that hides so cured will take tannin more readily than other hides, nearly about one-third sooner. They will rise plump and gain in weight much more than those salted or dried in the usual way, and in every respect make better, stronger, and more compact leather, and of afiner grain.

Hides so cured may also be unhaired without liming or sweating in the sweat-box. By piling them in a room of an ordinary temperature for three or four days they will shed the hair so perfectly that they may be put into the tan -vat directly afterward; but, if sweated in the sweatbox, the oversweating which would render any other hide useless will not injure this hide in the slightest degree, owing to the solidification of the fibers, &c., in consequence of the curing. They are also better for transportation, because they have no offensive smell, and even are themselves a disinfectant.

For upper leather and harness, which tanners sometimes prefer to lime for unhairing, I usually pack the hides with salti. 0., after the hide is cured and drained; so that there should not be any surplus moisture, I sprinkle the hide lightly with fine salt and then bundle it up. The object of this is that the salt should refrigerate the hide to a certain extent, and thus keep the hair fast.

There are also other ingredients which may be employed with the pyroligneous acid for the purpose of preserving the hidesfrom bugs, worms, 8:0. For instance, one dram of arsenious acid mixed with one dram of carbonate of potassa, and boiled in about half a pint of water until it is dissolved, and then added to one gallon of pyroligneous acid.

Sulphate of copper, borax, sulphate of iron, and others may be used; but I have found that the above compound answers every purpose just as well.

I do, of course, not confine myself to the ex act proportions of any of the ingredients herein mentioned, as they may, perhaps, be varied according to circumstances.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The within-described compound or liquid for curing hides, composed of pyroligneous acid, in which are dissolved aloes and alum, or their equivalents, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The method, herein described, of curing hides by means of soaking them in a liquid composed of the ingredients substantially as herein set forth, and packing them in salt for transportation, as described.

3. A curing compound composed of pyroligneous acid mixed with one or more ingredients poisonous to insects, for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADOLPHE ROCK. Witnesses T. H. ALEXANDER, THOMAS C. OoNNoLLY. 

